Rimac Automobili

Rimac Automobili
Private
Industry Automotive
Founded 2009
Founder Mate Rimac
Headquarters Sveta Nedelja, Croatia
Products Rimac Concept One, Rimac Concept S, Rimac C_Two
Owner
Number of employees
 163 employees[1]
Divisions Greyp Bikes, 23 employees[2]
Website Rimac Automobili

Rimac Automobili (pronounced [ rǐːmats automobǐːli ]) is a Croatian car manufacturer headquartered in Sveta Nedelja, Croatia, that develops and produces electric hypercars, drivetrains and battery systems. The company was founded in 2009 by Mate Rimac with the vision to create the sports car of the 21st century. Rimac Automobili's first model, the Concept One, is known as the world's fastest production electric vehicle.[3] While manufacturing and marketing high-performance vehicles under its own brand, Rimac also develops and produces battery packs, drivetrain systems and full vehicles for other companies. The Applus+ IDIADA Volar-E is an example[4] of the solutions Rimac Automobili is able to deliver. During the 88th Geneva International Motor Show in March 2018, the company unveiled its second and latest model, the C Two.

History

Founder Mate Rimac at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show

The groundwork for the company was laid in 2007 as a hobby garage activity of the founder Mate Rimac, Bosnian Croat from Livno (Bosnia and Herzegovina).[5][6] Working on his own, he managed to convert his BMW 3 Series (E30) to incorporate an electric powertrain and subsequently gained attention from the press and investors.[6] A significant part of the early financing came from angel investors and proprietary patents' sale.[6]

Rimac Automobili was founded in 2009[7] in Sveta Nedelja, near Zagreb, Croatia, where suitable facilities were rented.[6] In the early days, Mate Rimac's converted e-M3 served as Rimac Automobili’s first test mule. The founder and CEO of the company started to convert this car when he was only 19 years old: “I owned an old BMW E30 (MY 1984) which I used for drift and circuit races. At one of these races, the gas engine suddenly blew up. At that moment, I decided to try building an EV. After one year or so the car was able to drive but I was not yet satisfied with the result. It was heavy, not very powerful and the range was very limited. For this reason, I started to gather a team of experts to develop our own components since I believed that the electric propulsion could give much more compared to what was available on the market. At that time, I already had a very clear vision of my ultimate goal. Today, hard work is making my dream come true.”[8]

In 2018, Volkswagen group subsidiary Porsche Engineering Group GmbH acquired a 10% stake in Rimac to form a development partnership, as part of its electrification process.[9][10][11] Mate Rimac commented: "This partnership now is an important step for Rimac on our way to become a component and system supplier of choice for the industry in electrification, connectivity and the exciting field of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems".[10]

Models

Green Monster

The BMW E30 prototype is called the "Green Monster" by the designers of the company. With a 0-62 mph acceleration achieved in 3.3 seconds mark, it earned the title of fastest accelerating electric vehicle in Category A, Group VIII (electric vehicle) and Class 3 (over 1000 kg) in 2011. The “green monster” develops 442 kW (601 PS; 593 hp) and 900 N⋅m (664 lb⋅ft) of torque, reaches 100 km/h from a standstill in 3.3 sec and has a top speed of 174 mph (280 km/h). Five development updates have pushed the e-M3 to become the officially fastest accelerating electric vehicle according to strict FIA rules.

  • Records set on 17 April 2011:
    • 1/8 mile: 7,549 sec.
    • 1/4 mile: 11,808 sec.
    • 1/2 km: 13,714 sec.*
    • 1 km: 23,260 sec.*
    • 1 mile: 35,347 sec.*

*Records subject to official FIA approval (pending)[8]

The original BMW went through five stages of reinvention and now, says Rimac, "it got faster, lighter and more reliable each time." At that point, once realised how little of the original car had remained, he decided to build a new and faster car from scratch.[12]

Concept One

Rimac Concept One at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show

The Concept One is an all-electric battery-powered sports car. With a curb weight of 1850 kg, and a power of 1,288 hp (960 kW), the Concept One can reach 100 km/h from a standstill in 2.6 seconds and continue to accelerate to the limit of 221 mph (355 km/h). 92 kWh of energy in the Battery modules deliver enough thrust to permit a 600 km of range.[13]

A limited production of 88 units was to be offered.[14][15][16][17][18] The first car was delivered to an anonymous Spanish customer in January 2013.[19]

Almost all of the materials are produced in-house, and none of the critical components used in the vehicle are off-the-shelf.[6][20] The current design team includes former designers from Pininfarina[6] and Magna Steyr,[20] while the exterior of the car was designed by Croatian designer Adriano Mudri.[21]

Rimac's goal for the Concept One is to simply be the best electric supercar. For this reason, the whole car is developed around the powertrain and battery-pack. Gear changes or clutches are not needed and, thanks to the electric drivetrain, the reaction time is instantaneous. The batteries are located under the floor of the vehicle together with the other heavy propulsion components, choice that permits to achieve a low center of gravity and a better handling of the car. One full battery charge, that only requires 30 minutes on a 200 kW power supply station, can operate the vehicle for around 510 km (320 miles). Rimac chose to manufacture and sell an exclusive volume of 8 units of the Concept One.

Concept S

Rimac Concept S at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show

The Concept S is a lighter, more powerful and more aerodynamic, track-oriented update of the Concept One. The four electric motors can produce 1,384 hp (1,032 kW), enabling the Concept S to accelerate from 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in just 2.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 365 km/h (227 mph).[22]

At the 2017 Geneva Motor Show the company announced the establishment of official dealerships of its brand in Europe, North America and the Middle East, with dealers Manhattan Motorcars, PACE Germany and Al Zarooni Group.[23]

C_Two

Rimac Concept Two on display at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show

The successor to the Concept One, named C_Two, was unveiled at the March 2018 Geneva Motor Show. The car features an entirely new design with gull-wing doors and various power upgrades. The four updated electric motors now produce a total of 1,914 hp (1,427 kW) and 2,300 N⋅m (1,696 lb⋅ft) of torque. The carbon fibre body construction results in a weight of just 1,950 kg (4,300 lb) despite the heavy battery packs. The C_Two is able to accelerate from 0–60 mph (0–97 km/h) in just 1.85 seconds and achieve a top speed of 258 mph (415 km/h).

The car incorporates a fully independent torque vectoring system (R-AWTV) to improve handling and also includes many high-tech features such as a facial recognition system that would unlock the ignition only for the owner and adjust the car's settings according to the owner's mood. The "drift mode" present in the car allows the car to drift at high speeds and an intelligent traction control system keeps the car in control during the process. The Concept Two will have Level 4 self-driving capability, according to Rimac founder Mate Rimac. To aid in that, the car has eight cameras, a LIDAR, six radars, and twelve ultrasonic sensors. The production of the vehicle will be limited to 150 units.[24][25]

Rimac will debut the C_Two California edition at the August 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. The new special edition comes in a one-off shade of blue, new wheel design, six liters of champagne and two flutes in the boot of the hypercar.[26]

Component manufacturing

Among other projects, Rimac is in charge for producing KERS hybrid battery systems for Aston Martin's all-new hyper car, the Valkyrie. The company also produces battery systems for Koenigsegg (specifically for Koenigsegg Regera), Jaguar Cars and SEAT[27], as well as other automakers,[28][29] and developed infotainment systems for Renault.[30] In 2018, it entered a technical partnership with Pininfarina, whose first car, the Pininfarina PFo, is said to be based on the same architecture as the C_Two.[31]

Rimac is also involved in the production of drivetrains and other components for race car drivers, such as Nobuhiro Tajima, with whom it debuted with the joint all-electric car "Tajima Rimac E-Runner Concept_One" at the 2015 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The car finished the race in second position, ahead of all internal combustion engine cars.[32][33]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "transparenrap" [Transparency] (in Croatian). 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2018 – via Abload.
  2. ↑ "transparenrap" [Transparency] (in Croatian). 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2018 – via Abload.
  3. ↑ Johnson, Bailey (5 September 2012). "World's first million-dollar electric supercar". US: CBS News. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  4. ↑ Domenick Yoney. "New Applus Volar-E is an electric supercar with Rimac roots, courts controversy [w/video] - Autoblog". Green.autoblog.com. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  5. ↑ "Mladi Bosanci i Hercegovci koji su oduševili svijet u 2013. godini" [The young Bosnians and Herzegovinians who delighted the world in 2013]. 24sata (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wittenberg, Simon (October–November 2012), "$1 Million Rimac Concept", Luxurious Magazine, pp. 90–92
  7. ↑ "About us". Rimac Automobili. Archived from the original on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  8. 1 2 "Rimac Automobili test mule breaks world records". Rimac Automobili. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  9. ↑ "Sudski registar - Podaci o poslovnom subjektu" [Submission of the business entity] (in Croatian). Croatia: Ministarstvo Pravosudra Republike Hrvatske. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  10. 1 2 "Porsche takes a stake in the Croatian technology and sports car company Rimac" (Press release). Porsche. 20 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  11. ↑ Savov, Vlad (20 June 2018). "Porsche accelerates EV supercar ambitions with investment in Rimac". The Verge. US. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  12. ↑ Scott, Katie (13 September 2011). "Croatian entrepreneur unveils 190mph electric supercar | WIRED UK". Wired.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  13. ↑ Lopez, Jonathan (25 February 2015). "2017 Rimac Concept_One Review @ Top Speed". Top Speed. UK. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  14. ↑ http://www.automotorisport.hr/vijesti/rimac-concept-one-za-svega-740-000-eura
  15. ↑ https://dnevnik.hr/vijesti/automotiv/rimac-u-frankfurtu-predstavilo-fenomenalni-concept-one.html
  16. ↑ http://www.poslovni.hr/hrvatska/rimac-bit-cu-u-gubitku-no-moja-tvrtka-nije-na-prodaju-racunam-na-profit-najranije-2016-283839
  17. ↑ https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2012/05/rimac-concept-one-open-for-order-production-limited-to-88.html
  18. ↑ https://www.topspeed.com/cars/rimac-automobile/2011-rimac-concept-one-ar114155.html
  19. ↑ "Domaći uspjeh: Hrvatska izvozi prvi automobil u povijesti". Večernji list (in Croatian). January 6, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  20. 1 2 Lane, Richard (6 September 2012). "Rimac Concept_One". Green Car Design. UK. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  21. ↑ "Posuđeni novac vraćam očevoj tvrtki s kamatama, ni kunu nisam dobio na poklon" [I'm repaying the loan from my father's company with interest, I didn't get any money for free]. Vecernji (in Croatian). Croatia. 15 March 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  22. ↑ Yoney, Domenick (1 March 2016). "Rimac Concept_S is One amped up supercar". Autoblog. US. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  23. ↑ "Rimac Automobili at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show" (Press release). Rimac Automobili. 8 April 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  24. ↑ Steve Dent (6 March 2018). "Rimac unveils the 1900 hp Concept Two hypercar". Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  25. ↑ Wesley Wren (30 January 2018). "RIMAC CONCEPT TWO: Here's Your Electric Supercar Teaser". AutoWeek.
  26. ↑ Horncastle, Rowan (21 August 2018). "The Rimac C_Two has gone blue and boozy for Pebble". Top Gear. UK. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  27. ↑ Petrány, Máté (5 July 2018). "Seat's Electric Race Car Has 680 HP From Rimac". Road and Track. US. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  28. ↑ Bigg, Martin (13 October 2017). "Jaguar Worked With Rimac To Develop The All-Electric E-Type Zero". CarBuzz. US. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  29. ↑ Atiyeh, Clifford (8 September 2017). "E, 'lectrified: Jaguar Classic Makes a 1968 E-type Roadster into an EV". Car and Driver. US. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  30. ↑ "Radimo na autima koji će na tržištu biti tek 2022., ne smijem reći za koga, što mi smeta" [We're working on cars that will only be in the market in 2022, I'm not allowed to say for who, which bothers me]. Večernji (in Croatian). Croatia. 4 March 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  31. ↑ Duff, Mike (25 April 2018). "Pininfarina Will Build Its Own Version of the Rimac EV Hypercar". Car and Driver. US. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  32. ↑ Gitlin, Jonathan M. (4 June 2016). "1500-hp electric cars racing up the side of a mountain: We're going to Pikes Peak". Ars Technica. US. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  33. ↑ Burt, Matt (2 June 2015). "Rimac eyes Pikes Peak electric car record with 1455bhp racer". Autocar. UK. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  • Media related to Rimac Automobili at Wikimedia Commons
  • "Home". Rimac Automobili. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  • "Rimac Concept One – Elektroauto mit 1088 PS - Rimac Automobili - Sportautos und Supersportwagen". Sportautos-und-supersportwagen.de. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  • Joseph, Paul (19 July 2012). "$1 Million Electric Hyper Car to Debut at." Superyachts.com. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  • "Rimac Concept_One". Greencardesign.com. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  • Viknesh Vijayenthiran (15 September 2011). "Rimac Concept One electric supercar: 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show". Motorauthority.com. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  • "Rimac Concept One - | Noticia". Prestige Electric Car. 15 October 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
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